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Category: Food

I was walking past the baked goods, trying to avert my eyes from the Little Debbie cakes, when I heard a child say in an awed voice, “Yay! White doughnuts!”

Her father answered succinctly, “No.”

The child was quick to clarify. “I wasn’t asking for them. I was just saying, Yay.”

This made me laugh. She was saying, “I was just cheering for the existence of white doughnuts, Dad. And reminding you that they were there. In case some miracle happened and I might get to eat a white doughnut. At some point in my life.”

I feel your pain, kid. I can remember looking longingly at various treats in the grocery store I knew my mom would never buy.

Brown the hamburger, and then mix all the ingredients in the crockpot. Cook on low for 3-4 hours. We usually serve it with cooked elbow macaroni.

This is my mother-in-law’s awesome chili recipe. I love it because any recipe based on canned food is my favorite.

And yes, it actually won the church chili cook-off once. FIRST PRIZE. Although we may have cheated just a bit.

Not intentionally. Much.

But it turns out than in a vote-based competition, placement is paramount. We were chili number one on the ballot that year, having by some miracle arrived early. Being number one in line ensures more exposure and garners more votes.

Also it doesn’t hurt to have seven people in the family to stuff the ballot box.

And now I can call this recipe “AWARD WINNING!”

On a side note, this recipe is in a handwritten book my mother-in-law gifted me and my sisters-in-law with.

It is a real treasure for grown children to have their mothers’ and grandmothers’ recipes in handwriting form.

So I recommend this as a gift to all you grandmas out there.

And if you want to put this chili recipe in your recipe book, remember to call it AWARD WINNING.

This part I did according to the recipe. Although making those rectangular noodles fit into the round crock pot? It requires a little more than “breaking to fit.” I felt like I should get out an X-Acto knife. It was messy; I won’t lie.